Assocham suggests beneficial tax measures for senior citizens

Highlights

Medical expenses shoot up heavily in old age as persons covered by mediclaim insurance policies have to cough up very high insurance premia after one or two claims

Assocham has also suggested the government that there should not be any TDS (Tax Deducted at Source) from payment of interest to senior and super senior citizens

(Representative image)

MANGALURU: In its pre-budget memorandum submitted to the Union Government, apex industry body Assocham has suggested various beneficial tax measures for senior citizens to be introduced in the upcoming budget. “Increase minimum tax exemption limit for senior citizens (above 60 years) from current Rs 3 lakh to Rs 7.5 lakh and super senior citizens, who are 80 years and above, should not pay tax if their income is up to Rs 12.5 lakh,” suggested The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham). “The population in current senior citizens’ category did not have robust social-security/pension fund investment facility during their working life and are thus hugely dependent on interest income from fixed deposits etc., considering that rate of interest has come down drastically in past one year it has left senior citizens in financial difficulty,” it said. The fact that actual inflation is much higher than headline inflation numbers, this has further added to their misery. Besides, medical expenses shoot up heavily in old age as persons covered by mediclaim insurance policies have to cough up very high insurance premia after one or two claims. “Senior citizens have played significant role in both private and public spheres, contributing to raising families and also to nation-building, as such, welfare of the elderly should always be our priority,” said Assocham deputy secretary general, Saurabh Sanyal. Assocham has also suggested the government that there should not be any TDS (Tax Deducted at Source) from payment of interest to senior and super senior citizens. It has further suggested the government to reduce age limit for super senior citizens category from 80 years and above to 70 years and above. “The current life expectancy of males in India (as per Census of India for 2011) is 67.3 years; for females, it is 69.6 years, keeping this demographic data in mind, there is a need to revise this age limit.”